Thursday, October 23, 2014

When planning a party at home, decorating can easily slide down the to-do list as more essential tasks (like menu planning, shopping and cleaning) take priority. But isn’t much of the fun of a party the feeling that things are a bit fancier than the everyday? A few well-placed, non-holiday-specific decorations can dress up parties from now through the New Year. Hit these seven decorating hot spots, and you’ll know your home is party ready.

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1. Draw attention to the front door. As guests arrive at the front door, they should feel a sense of occasion; even one special touch can do the trick.

You can’t go wrong with a seasonal wreath — it’s simple and elegant, and should last for several months. If you live in a warm climate, why not embrace the weather and choose a wreath featuring dried citrus fruit instead of fall leaves or winter berries and greens?

For an even longer-lasting display, a pair of stately topiaries flanking the door makes an elegant first impression.

Or place a few sturdy lanterns on the ground beside your doormat for a welcoming touch. Avoid a potential hazard by placing battery-operated candles inside instead of the real thing, and turn them on before guests arrive.

2. Polish up the foyer. The place where you greet your guests deserves to be gussied up a bit at party time. Pick and choose between these festive accents that can work for any party, holiday or not:

A pair of mini topiaries on the entry table

Lit candles with a beautiful fragrance

A pretty bowl filled with candy

A silver mint julep cup filled with freshly cut roses

3. Set the dining table. When you are having a dinner party, having the table fully set before guests arrive not only makes things less stressful, but the set table becomes part of the decor. A table setting like the one shown here looks extremely polished but takes less effort than you might think.

Follow these steps to give it your own twist:

Cover your table with a tablecloth or runner in a natural material like linen, burlap or wool tweed. Or, if you have a pretty wood table, leave it bare!

Form your centerpiece by arranging dried moss down the center third of the table, and top it with antlers or driftwood. Nestle in a few fresh “ingredients,” like mini white pumpkins, succulents, persimmons, pomegranates or pears.

Set the table. If you want to use chargers, try a metallic hue that matches your flatware or use natural wood slices. Top each plate with a piece of the same fruit or veg used in the centerpiece.

Even if you won’t be using the dining table during a party, it’s still a good idea to dress it up. A cluster of large decorative gourds like the ones shown here would look stunning through the fall. In winter try a cluster of mini trees or potted rosemary.

4. Create a drinks table. Another great use of the dining table during nondinner parties is as a bountiful, self-serve bar. Make it festive by setting a few large-scale objects — like the urn and vase of flowers shown here — near the center.

If you are using a credenza or bar cart in the living room as the drinks table, call attention to it by placing something with a bit of sparkle or light on top, like the branches shown here. Another easy but high-impact way to light up the bar is by coiling a strand or two of battery-operated string lights inside a large glass jar, and placing it on the bar.

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For hot drinks, like apple cider or hot cocoa, setting up in the kitchen makes more sense. Inviting guests to serve themselves hot drinks in the kitchen is a great way to get conversations started! Create a convivial mood by hanging bunting or a wreath, or setting out a vase filled with branches.

Moss-covered balls set atop candleholders look elegant, and you can leave them up all season.

6. Style the coffee table. You will likely be ushering your guests into the living room, so give them something pretty to look at on the coffee table. A good formula is a simple vase with flowers plus a stack of books with an object on top. For a long coffee table, try placing the flowers in the center, with a stack of books on either side.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

The market doesn't lie: Housing recovery is real

Time to move in? Shares of companies with ties to the housing market are surging.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul R. La Monica. Other than Time Warner, the parent of CNNMoney, Abbott Laboratories and AbbVie, La Monica does not own positions in any individual stocks.
If the housing market is really on the mend, that is undeniably a good sign for the broader economy and the stock market.
Guess what? It's increasingly looking like the housing rebound is, to pull a famous Seinfeld phrase, real and spectacular.
Home Depot (HD) reported profits Tuesday morning that were much better than forecasts. It also raised guidance.
In its earnings release, CEO Frank Blake said the company is continuing to "benefit from a recovering housing market" despite the fact that there was "less favorable weather" during the quarter.
Some retailers have blamed the snowy and cold winter for soft first-quarter results and a slowdown in consumer spending. So it's really encouraging to see that Home Depot bucked that trend, thanks to the comeback in housing.Related: Home appraisals no longer derailing sales
Shares of Home Depot were up nearly 2% Tuesday, making them the top performer in the Dow on an otherwise ho-hum day for the broader market. Home Depot rival Lowe's (LOW), which reports its earnings Wednesday, rose slightly as well.
Both stocks have posted phenomenal returns so far this year. Other companies catering to the housing market, such as paint maker Sherwin-Williams (SHW), furnishings manufacturer Leggett & Platt (LEG) and kitchen supplies retailers Williams-Sonoma (WSM) and Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) have also been Wall Street studs this year.
All of these companies are part of the somewhat erroneously named SPDR S&P Homebuilders (XHB) exchange traded fund, which also owns shares of actual builders. The ETF is up almost 20% so far this year, following a nearly 60% pop in 2012.
It makes sense that housing related stocks are trouncing the market.
The Federal Reserve has kept interest rates at historically low levels for a long time. Add in the numerous rounds of bond and mortgage-backed security purchases and you understand why mortgage rates have remained unusually low for a lot longer than they probably should be at this stage of the economic recovery. That's boosted demand for housing. We're seeing it in increased home prices, higher sales and a pick-up in building activity.
Of course, investors now have to worry if there is a new bubble inflating in the housing market. In fact, homebuilder stocks have been falling for the past few days.
PulteHome (PHM), Lennar (LEN) and D.R. Horton (DHI) were all among the worst stocks in the S&P 500 Tuesday.Related: Apartment construction slows but single-family home activity remains strong
But these stocks are all simply pulling back from 52-week highs. It's natural for investors to take some money off the table. And it's premature to suggest that the housing market is already approaching a top again.
The mistake that some are making about the housing recovery is to assume that it can't last for a long time. But given how far the residential real estate market fell in such a short period of time during the Great Recession, it's not a stretch to think that a recovery will unfold gradually over a period of years.
If you look back at the first-quarter results of just about any company with tangential ties to housing, the comments from executives are bullish.
Paint maker Valspar (VAL) noted that housing is in recovery mode several times during its conference call earlier this month.
Online real estate listing firm Move (MOVE) said "that it's increasingly clear that a national housing recovery is underway."
Executives at both Citigroup (C) and fiber glass maker Owens-Corning (OC) ... start humming the Pink Panther theme ... noted that they think the recovery in housing is "sustainable."
And in perhaps the strongest endorsement of the housing market, real estate developer Brookfield Residential Property (BRP) went as far as to say that "in the U.S., the housing recovery appears to be in full swing."Related: Home price rise continues to pick up speed
It's understandable that many are still skeptical. But the sheer volume of comments about how the housing market has finally turned the corner can't be dismissed.
Now we just have to hope that the housing rebound leads to even more job growth. If that happens, the entire economic recovery, and by extension the stock market rally, could last a while longer.

Friday, August 31, 2012

On Friday night a rare blue moon will rise in the sky in an astronomical event that occurs only once every three years or so. If you're hoping to see the blue moon but the sky above you is cloudy, don't fret. The web-based Slooh Space Camera will broadcast the event live beginning at 6 p.m. EDT. (The website's even got a countdown clock to its blue moon coverage.)

Friday evening's blue moon will allow fans of the late Neil Armstrong to marvel at man's incredible feat. Armstrong was the first man to set foot on the lunar surface back in 1969. This photo was taken early Friday morning as the moon technically turned full. Photo: Travis Burke

If you're more inclined to watch the real thing, the best viewing is usually available outside of town, away from the glare of city lights. Viewing is enhanced even more if you can find a nearby lake or pond that will reflect the moon's light. Of course, avoiding cloud cover is a must, so knowing where find patches of clear sky is key. Chances are there's a micro climate near you to do so.

Folklore will tell you that strange things go bump in the night when there's a blue moon--but what folklore won't tell you is that blue moons aren't really blue. The term is a misnomer and actually refers to the second of two full moons that occur during the same calendar month.Because the lunar cycle is 29.5 days, most months only see one full moon. But every once in a while a full moon rises twice in the same month. The next time we humans will see a blue moon is on July 31, 2015.